Brussels terror suspect’s lawyers accuse court of bias

Lawyers representing Bilal E.M., an alleged terrorist involved in the Brussels attacks, launched a petition Wednesday to have their client’s case moved to a different court because one of the Brussels judges lost his son in the bombings, according to media reports.

The judge’s son, Léopold Hecht, was killed in the Maalbeek metro attack. Bilal E.M. has been charged with assisting terror suspects Mohammed Abrini and Osama Krayem in carrying out the metro bombings.

“You cannot expect Brussels magistrates to be objective as the child of one of their colleagues died,” Pol Vandemeulebroucke, one of the lawyers, told De Standaard.